Tag Archives: food

Disabled people forced to cut back on food and heating to pay bedroom tax

Posted in bedroom tax, disabled, hunger, poverty by

Nine in 10 disabled people and three quarters of carers affected by the bedroom tax are having to cut back on food and heating in order to pay their rent.

The Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC), a national coalition of more than 50 charities, revealed the findings in a letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith which called on the government to take immediate action to exempt disabled people, their families and carers from the controversial policy.

The letter, signed by the chief executives of charities including Disability Rights UK, Scope, the Royal National Institute of Blind People and the Child Poverty Action Group, points to “stark evidence” that shows disabled people are not being protected from the controversial policy despite government claims to the contrary.

It states: “Before the policy was implemented, we warned that it would hit disabled people and carers for whom additional accommodation was essential, not spare.

“We have been deeply frustrated at reports that disabled people and their families are protected from this policy. The stark evidence since the policy was implemented in April clearly shows they are not.

“It is hitting disabled people who need an extra room for essential home adaptations or equipment which enable them to live independently; seriously or terminally ill people who sleep on hospital beds and cannot share a room with a partner who cares for them and parents caring 24/7 for disabled children who need a room for a care worker to stay in to give them a night off from caring.

“None of these groups are exempt and our organisations are seeing the devastating impact it is having on those who now face a shortfall in their rent as a result of the changes.

“Nine in 10 disabled people and three quarters of carers affected are now having to cut back on food and heating to pay the shortfall in rent they face as a result of this policy.

“Our organisations are hearing time after time from disabled people, carers and families of disabled children who are being forced deeper and deeper into debt and falling behind on their rent, putting them at risk of eviction.”

The charities also claim that the DWP’s safety net of discretionary payments is not working.

“Our research shows that only a minority of disabled people and carers receiving support from the fund the government set aside to cover the shortfall in rent for disabled people. Those who are unable to access discretionary support are being hit with an average bill of £700 a year,” the letter states.

It continues: “Disabled people and carers are being left in constant fear of losing their homes. Even those who have received discretionary payments to cover the shortfall in rent now are being left with a deep sense of insecurity – knowing they may have to reapply for temporary support for the rest of their lives just to stay in their own homes.

“The Government must act now to exempt disabled people and carers from this policy.”

The latest official statistics show that more than half a million social housing tenants are affected by the bedroom tax. This is hitting disabled people particularly hard as:

  • two thirds of housing benefit claimants affected by the tax are disabled;
  • 100,000 live in specially adapted properties; and
  • around 230,000 claim Disability Living Allowance(DLA)
  • over three quarters (77%) of DLA claimants live in the social sector.

by Juhn Lash at 24dash.com, 24th Nov 2013: http://www.24dash.com/news/central_government/2013-11-27-Disabled-people-forced-to-cut-back-on-food-and-heating-to-pay-bedroom-tax-charities

Charity offering help to UK families for the first time in nearly 70 years, as food price rises and energy bills bite

Posted in Benefits, hunger, poverty by
Hard-up families could be forced to turn to the British Red Cross for help this winter for the first time in nearly 70 years, as thousands face crippling cuts to their household budgets.

The Red Cross said it was about to launch a campaign in supermarket foyers asking shoppers to donate food to be distributed to the most needy through the charity FareShare.

Rises in basic food prices and soaring utility bills have helped push more than 5m people in the UK into deep poverty.Nearly 500,000 people needed support from food banks last year, according to figures from the Trussel Trust.

Juliet Mountford, head of UK service development, said the RedCross agreed to assist FareShare on the basis of “strong evidence of an increased need for support on food poverty issues. For British Red Cross it’s a toe in the water. It’s the first step in considering whether we ought to be doing more on today’s food poverty challenge.”

Last month a report shed light on the chronic throwaway culture affecting the food industry, in which up to two-fifths of a crop of fruit or vegetables can be wasted because it is “ugly”. Produce grown in the UK that does not meet retailer standards on size or shape or is blemished is often used for animal feed or simply ploughed back into the ground even though it is edible, with as much as 40% of a crop rejected.

The report, commissioned by the UK’s global food security programme, also showed that the average household threw away more than 5kg (11lb) of food a week.

in ‘The Guardian’ 11th October 2013: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/11/red-cross-to-distribute-food-to-britains-poor-and-hungry

‘Bedroom tax’ fuels Stoke-on-Trent foodbank demand

Posted in bedroom tax, Foodbank, hunger, poverty by
MORE hungry families are finding it hard to feed themselves since the Government introduced welfare changes.

This is the view of volunteers at Stoke-on-Trent’s Foodbank, which has fed 11,435 people across the city since it launched in May last year.

One of the charity’s founders, Sue Simcoe, aged 62, said there has been an increase in the number of people seeking food donations since bedroom tax was introduced in April. Under the reforms, housing benefit claimants living in council or housing association homes could lose up to £16 a week if they have a spare bedroom.

Mrs Simcoe, of Leek Road in Bucknall, said: “The benefit changes – like the bedroom tax – are making a difference.  All of the benefit changes have an impact because before they came in, people were already living on the poverty line.”

Foodbank volunteer Ruth Leigh, of Whieldon Road in Fenton, said some families are forced to choose between paying bills or buying food. The 75-year-old said: “The number of people we see varies from week to week, but there seems to be more since the bedroom tax came in. People tell us that is why they are now in need. Their benefit gets cut if they have a spare bedroom, so they are either going into debt or it’s a case of having to choose to pay for food bills or whatever else.”

Pastor Augustine Baah, of the Church of the Nazarene in Fenton, said the extra influx of people coming to the Foodbank – which now has nine distribution centres across the city – means there is less food to share around.

As part of its annual harvest celebrations, the Smithpool Road church opened its doors for two hours on Saturday to kind-hearted people responding to an urgent appeal for donations. Mr Baah said: “They have to give less food to make it last longer. To be able to cater for more people, we have to reduce how much we give.”

Mrs Simcoe said most people who visit the Foodbank live in areas near the city centre, such as Hanley and Burslem, but a high number also come from Bentilee. She added: “Harvest is a time when people like to give, and Stoke-on-Trent people love to give. Anything we receive now will build a reserve for when we tend to see a drop in donations just after Christmas, which is also when demand increases. Although we give food, we also help direct people to the agencies and services that can help them help themselves. We don’t want to create a dependency on Foodbank handouts.”

Healthcare professionals, social workers and the police refer people in need of emergency handouts to the charity, where they can exchange a voucher for a three-day supply of food.

Starving unemployed man sets fire to job centre to get meal in police cells

Posted in Benefits, Crime, hunger by
Bee O’Brien, 49, flew into a rage after a row over his benefits payments and set fire to the customer telephones at Moss Side job centre after he hadn’t eaten for three days

An unemployed man who hadn’t eaten for three days tried to set fire to the job centre – so he could have a meal in police custody.

Bee O’Brien, 49, flew into a rage after a row over his benefits payments and set fire to the customer telephones at Moss Side job centre. O’Brien had not eaten for three days after his benefits had been stopped.

He told police: “I will commit a crime and get arrested. I need some food.”

O’Brien, of Camelford Close, Hulme, admitted criminal damage, attempted arson, and using threatening words and behaviour when he appeared before Manchester magistrates.

 Gina Clayton, defending, said: “His benefits had been stopped for some reason and he hadn’t eaten for three days. He was simply desperate for some food. He went to the job centre to get his payments and lost his temper. He was aware that if he was arrested he would have been given food at the police station.”

Helen Veitch, prosecuting, told the court: “A member of staff at the job centre noticed he was arguing on the customer services advice telephone. He was noted to be aggressive and abusive.

by Pete Brainbridge in the ‘Manchester Evening News’, 26th September 2013: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/unemployed-man-sets-fire-job-6096469

“He was asked to leave the job centre, and was told the staff would phone police. She said the member of staff then ‘heard a clicking noise’ and saw O’Brien with a cigarette lighter.

She said: “He tried to set fire to the phone cable, then went to another phone and repeated the action. He said – ‘Yes, I’m setting fire to this to get arrested’. When police arrived he said: “If you don’t get my money I will commit a crime and get arrested. I need some food.”

He was detained but carried on being abusive in custody and hurled hot chocolate all over his cell.

He was given a 12 month community order and ordered to do 40 hours unpaid work

One in three Britons struggling to feed themselves

Posted in hunger, poverty by
A Which? survey out today reveals that rising grocery bills are causing real hardship

The rise in the price of food is an extra source of stress for households who are already struggling to make ends meet, new research has revealed.

A survey by the consumer group Which? shows that as incomes stagnate, eight in 10 people in Britain are concerned that food is too expensive, and more than half worry about how they will pay for their groceries in the future if prices continue to climb.

The findings come at a time when the cost of food has grown over and above general inflation by 12.6 percentage points over the last six years, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Since last year, the price of food and alcoholic drinks rose by 3.9 per cent on average. However, in the same period, incomes rose by only 2.1 per cent, with three-quarters of consumers saying their income has stayed the same or decreased in the last year. The result of this is that three in 10 people now struggle to feed themselves or their family.

Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which?, said: “While people seem to have accepted their grocery bill going up, stagnating incomes and rocketing food prices are causing stress and worry, and leaving people wondering how they are going to cope.

“Supermarkets need to make it much easier for consumers to spot the best deal by ensuring pricing is simple, and making special offers genuinely good value for money. Politicians need to put consumers at the heart of their economic policies to tackle the rising cost of living and to support growth and prosperity.”

In the organisation’s separate monthly consumer tracking survey, one million more households admitted that they are feeling the squeeze compared to a year ago, leaving 9.5 million people struggling with the cost of living.

Chris Mould, executive chair of the Trussell Trust, a charity that provides support and sustenance for those in crisis, said that he has seen a 200 per cent rise in the number of people who needed food banks in the first quarter of this financial year compared to last year.

“The fact that one in three consumers say they struggle to feed themselves is seriously worrying. Food insecurity on this scale across the UK warrants urgent political attention. Until progress is made, the Trussell Trust food banks expect to provide an essential helping hand in times of crisis for an increasing number of people,” he said.

This year food replaced essentials such as household bills and car costs, as well as luxuries including holidays, as the top item that people spend their savings on.

The survey released today shows that the average amount spent on the weekly food shop for a household is £60, with couples and those with children shelling out around £80.

Some 86 per cent of people who say they are spending a larger proportion of their disposable income on food report that they are not buying more food, with three in 10 saying that they are in fact buying less. Two-thirds say their overall weekly household bill has increased compared to 12 months ago, with rising food prices mostly being blamed.

Shoppers claim they are feeling the hit mostly in staples such as meat, fresh vegetables and bread.

Katherine Trebeck, policy and advocacy manager for Oxfam’s UK programme, described the rise in food prices as “part of a perfect storm of high unemployment, falling real incomes and cuts to public services”. She stressed that the Government “urgently needs to improve the social security system so people struggling to afford the basics get the support they need to help them through these testing times”.

by Kashmera Gander in ‘The Independent’, 22nd September 2013

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith accused of foodbank ‘cover-up’

Posted in Foodbank by
The Tory Work and ­Pensions Secretary dropped a rule requiring Jobcentres to record why people need emergency meals

Iain Duncan Smith is ­trying to hide how benefit delays and cuts are forcing more families to use ­foodbanks, an MP claims.

The Tory Work and ­Pensions Secretary dropped a rule requiring Jobcentres to record why people need emergency meals.

Labour’s Dave Watts ­accused Mr Duncan Smith of trying to hide the fact that his department often fails to process benefit claims in the 16-day limit.

Mr Watts said: “They’ve done this to hide the fact that the DWP is not ­processing claims quickly enough and is leaving ­people in abject poverty.”

The DWP said the rule was axed as councils now have more responsibility ­for giving ­emergency help.

Government negligence, not parental neglect

Posted in Benefits, hunger, poverty by
GOVERNMENT NEGLIGENCE, NOT PARENTAL NEGLECT

Frank Field and Patrick White say that a healthy pregnancy, good childcare, encouragement of learning, parental authority and parents who improve their skills all enable children to enjoy success even when the parents are poor. I hope their Merseyside experiment (The Tablet, 25 August), which sets out to prove that parenting is more important than income, will fully examine the effects of poverty-related debt.

The level of adult Jobseekers’ Allowance, Income Support and Employment Support Allowance for 18-24 year olds – good years for healthy pregnancy and child birth – has increased from £47.95 in 2008 to £56.25 a week in 2012. However the minimum income standards for food, fuel, clothing and transport as calculated by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation increased from £71.01 to £91.58 a week.

In addition, capping the local housing allowance has increased debt and reduced expenditure on food and other necessities. Calls on Trussell Trust food banks have doubled in a year to 128,687 in 2011-12. Field and White blame shop-lifting by children on neglect by parents who preferred to spend the money elsewhere. “Elsewhere” is more likely to be a debt than a preference – such as council tax arrears plus court and bailiffs’ costs. The Government’s 2008 foresight report, Mental Capital and Wellbeing, related debt and mental illness.

Riot-torn Tottenham has a poor record in both burglary and low birthweight. In a list of London’s burglary hotspots in 2010 Tottenham Green was second with 21 cases per 1,000 residents; St Ann’s was third – 20 cases, and Haringey fourth with 19 cases. The same wards had among the highest rates of low birth weight in London between 2007 and 2009: Tottenham Green – 12.5 per cent of live births, St Ann’s – 9.4 per cent and Haringey 11.6 per cent. The average for England is 7.53 per cent.

Professor Michael Crawford of the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition has shown that poor maternal nutrition and low birth weight are associated with foetal growth restriction, which is the strongest predictor of poor learning ability, school performance, behavioural disorders and crime. That is not parental neglect: it is governmental negligence
.
Rev Paul Nicolson, Chairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust

Extract from an article on ‘Taxpayers against Poverty’, Sept 12th 2013: http://www.taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk/much-worse-than-the-poll-tax/

Food theft on rise as Hull families struggle.

Posted in bedroom tax, Benefits, hunger, poverty by

By Jenna Thompson

POLICE say they are tackling a sharp rise in food theft as families struggle to make ends meet.

Officers say financial pressures are forcing previously law-abiding people to turn to shoplifting to feed themselves and their families.

Food theft rose by 40 per cent in April, with the city centre, Holderness Road and Hessle Road named as hotspots.

Sergeant Robin Danby, of Riverside neighbourhood policing team, said: “There has been a noticeable rise in shop theft, with food and other essential items making up a significant part of it. It is part of a national picture that, because of financial constraints, people are stealing basic essentials to live.

“We have been asking shoplifters when we arrest them why they have done it and many have said they have stolen to eat the food themselves because they need to.”

Rising unemployment, changes to benefits and increasing food and fuel costs are putting pressures on family budgets.Official figures show that, between December and February, there were 253,000 people out of work in Yorkshire and the Humber region.

In parts of north Hull, there are more than 50 people chasing every job vacancy.

The controversial “bedroom tax”, which meant almost 5,000 households in the city lost an average of £14 a week, came into force on April 1.

Sgt Danby said more hard-up families are also buying food that has been stolen, creating a market for shoplifters. “We are seeing ordinary people buying stolen goods because they are having to tighten their belts,” he said.

“They would never consider themselves as thieves or dishonest people, but when someone offers them a jar of coffee that would normally be £5 for £2, they say yes.”This creates demand and the number of thefts increases. We have intelligence which suggests stolen foodstuffs are being sold in licensed premises and other places.

“Commonly, this will be high-value products such as meat, cheese and coffee, which people would normally pay a lot for in the supermarket.”

Figures reveal shoplifting in Hessle Road rose by 50 per cent in April, compared with the same period last year.

From ‘This is Hull and East Riding’ 16th June 2013. Read more: http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Food-theft-rise-Hull-families-struggle/story-19307430-detail/story.html#ixzz2WTk3eMwe

Can’t afford food because of bedroom tax – forced to steal.

Posted in bedroom tax, Foodbank, hunger by

A thief claimed she was forced to steal from Tesco because the bedroom tax was leaving her no money to pay for food.

Linda Newton, 54, from Eastgarth in Newbiggin Hall, pleaded guilty to taking £39.21 worth of groceries from the firm’s Kingston Park superstore – but said she had no choice as she either stole or starved.

In mitigation, solicitor Lewis Pearson said the Government’s controversial new levy was costing his client, who was dressed in a blue Karrimor coat, pink, white and grey Nike trainers and dark blue jogging bottoms, £50 per week and after paying for essentials she did not have enough left to eat.

“Newton is in a desperate situation,” he said. “And she doesn’t know what she is supposed to do.

“But it seems more like a social problem than a purely criminal matter.”

From the Northumbria ‘Chronicle Live’ 11th June 2013: Evening Chronicle: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk